And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand…Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. (2 Chronicles 16:7,10 NKJV)

Asa had gotten good Yelp reviews for his job as king, but then, trouble happened. Baasha, the king of Israel started attacking. Even though Asa had seen God working miraculously on military issues before, his first instinct was to take the silver and gold from the Temple treasuries and send them to the king of Syria to get his help. He didn’t turn to God. God’s prophet came to Asa and Asa was furious. He put the prophet in prison and oppressed some of the people. Asa fell out of favor with God and the last thing we hear about him, other than his death, was that he had some kind of foot disease. Even in his distress from the foot problems, he didn’t seek God.

There are two ways to react when God lets us know we did wrong. We can react like Asa did and revolt against God. We can shoot the messenger, well, not literally, and we can take out our anger about God’s rebuke on everyone around us. How well did that work out for Asa? The other option is to seek God. Seek His will and determine if God was rebuking you or was something else happening. If you determine that it was God rebuking you, accept the rebuke and humble yourself under God’s direction. Having reacted both ways, I can tell you that accepting the rebuke, repenting of the sin, and living in the restored relationship that comes from God’s grace is the best way to go.

Lord, teach me. When I’m right, help me to be humble. When I’m wrong, convict me and lead me back into a restored relationship with You through Your grace and forgiveness.

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